 Okay, live. Live everybody. Yeah. Okay. Welcome back to blades and bodice rippers. We will be discussing the goblin emperor. Do I need to show it more than that? I'm terrible at hosting someone else do this please. I feel like, I mean, if people are here, y'all read this right or you don't care. So not sizing is my superpower. Let me go for Amanda. Do it. So goblin emperor, right? There's this guy. He's like a kid named Maya. He's like, often this like secluded place because his dad's the emperor and like doesn't give a fuck. His dad and all his older brothers got killed in a plane crash. Maya's emperor now. Holy shit. So he has to go to the capital and like be emperor but he doesn't really know how to do that. But the thing about Maya is that he's really, I got a kind heart. So he's trying his best and then things happen and people are trying to kill him because you know the plane crash wasn't an accident. And then things go from there. I feel like that's a good synopsis. That was a very good synopsis I was. See what I do. Just open with everybody giving their star rating and then go from there. Yes. Is this good? Do I have a second on this motion? Yes, the motion carries. I think I gave it four, four and a half. Okay, I read this earlier than everybody else. I should have looked at this. Can you research your own opinions, please? I actually can. Thank you, Goodreads. I gave it four and a half stars. I gave it, I was between three and a half and four and I decided to bump it to four. And my four and a half is like a Mara four. So, ish. Yeah. Three. Three. Amanda, what did you? I was saying four. Nobody hated it. Yeah. I just liked it the least. Kill surprise. I'm shocked. At least you picked it. None of us have to feel bad about it. That's true. Yeah. I mean, we'll see how this goes. There's plotting violence over there. I could see maybe why you wouldn't like it. It got a little overly saccharine at certain moments. Interesting. It's not like we do this every month. Do we do a non-spoiler section in the beginning? Non-spoiler section is great for it. Really? Okay. Do we want to dive in like pros and cons? Like everyone, why y'all liked it more than me? And then I can tell you why you're wrong. We preach like, hey, everybody has different experiences of books. Different people are allowed to have different opinions. No. As long as they're the same as mine. It's okay that you're wrong. Our family's motto is, that's my opinion, make it yours. So it sounds like, Liana, you could be adopted into the... It's like the animal farm. What's yours is mine, what's mine is also mine. But change it to opinions. As I win, tails you lose. Yeah. Okay. I would call this... This is what I think Goblin Emperor is like. It's like, to me, if Jane Austen was writing political fantasy. Like... See, I don't... I heard several people say that, and that was not my experience of this book. So I'd love to hear your perspective on why. Yeah. I mean, I think because it's slow and character-driven, and it's very much about like, court politics, but also like, courtly behavior and interactions. And I feel like Jane Austen also writes a lot about that, about like, social interactions and social mores, and like, how different people fit into class structures and stuff. And it's very slow. It's very character-driven and quiet. And like, this is, to me, felt very similar. Like, it's like that, but in a political fantasy. You know? Yeah. And I think of Austen, I'm thinking more of sort of like, in the country. So like, the manner, the observation of manners in more of a like, country house kind of setting. Okay. I don't necessarily think like, royal court. But like, I see where you're going with that. That makes sense to me. Yeah. More sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek stuff from Jane Austen that I didn't really feel like. Yeah. I think Jane Austen's snarkier than this book is. I love snarkier. Yeah. In terms of things I liked, somebody said that they thought it was very cozy for a fantasy. And I agree. Like, that's, I liked the vibe. So that I think was what took me from a three and a half to a four, because it just is sort of like, I don't know. Like, I just was, I was into the writing. I think if you don't like the writing, you will not like this book because I do think it's very voicy in that way. I liked Maya. I did feel like the side characters were pretty flat compared to him. But I was into the vibe. So I just sort of like, and I actually thought the machinations were pretty machination-y. Like I thought that the, that piece of it was, was pretty good. Yeah. I agree. I mean, I like, I generally had a good time with it. I thought it was cozy. I enjoyed reading it. I loved Maya as a character. I did think that like the names were a lot. And I could not keep track of who was who. Like the names. I have no idea what the name is. Yes. I, okay. I have like a side track. I would like to do at some point about a revelation I had about fantasy names through this book, but you guys say what you want to say about it first. Liana, what did you think of the names? I just nicknamed everybody through other names because I can't remember all their names. I would first like to call out, yes, machination-y is now a word. I love it. Yeah. It's a good type of form. Yeah. I likewise kind of, I mean, well, let's say in the beginning I was like stressed about trying to keep track of the names. And then I realized that no one matters except for Maya. And I was like, oh, I don't have to pay attention to this because literally no one else matters. So that's, that is true. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I kind of just like used context clues to be like, Oh, this is the stepmother. This is the like in thought of like tried to figure out who they were based on the context and assigned them a role more than a name because I just couldn't follow. And I was listening to the audio book, which the narration is great and helps with pronunciation a lot. But I just think this was excessive. I feel like if you're going to, okay, so here's my thought. I think if you want to do fantasy names, best thing to do is have, you can have your lengthy ones, but have a short one that is somewhat nearer to names people are used to. I just imagine we named people are used to just like a nickname or yeah, or simple. But like if every single time a character is on, on page, you have this whole long thing. It's hard to, it's hard to like keep track of that. I think it's like, if you had to refer to Danny as Daenerys Stormborn, first of her name, like, every single time. Exactly. Yeah. I realized that when I, and this is true both in fantasy naming and in actual real world languages where I don't have a reference for how to pronounce something, I basically look at the name almost like it's a hieroglyphic. So like, I'm not even really processing it as a name. I'm looking at as like, almost like this combination of letters is a symbol and that is that person. I do that or like, I just kind of like the first letter that it starts with, I'm like, it's L blah, blah, blah. V blah, blah, blah. Like, I don't even attempt to hear it in my head when I'm, when I'm reading. I just, it might as well be the Prince, like hieroglyph that he changed his name to for a while. Like that is what it is to me. And that's why I think I'm so terrible with pronouncing fantasy names because usually I don't really even try to pronounce them in my head. Unless it's audio book. And then in audio book, like I'll actually see the physical book. I'll be talking to somebody who read the physical book and they did audio and they're telling me, you know, something about it and they're naming the characters. And I'm like, who? And I'm like, oh, and I try to sound it out. I'm like, oh, okay. That's what they were saying. Yeah. Is that how that sounds? Oh my God. Yeah. And I would say it also annoyed me that we had a glossary, but not all of the names we encounter are in the glossary. I'm like, if you were going to do that, you should have had it be comprehensive because that would annoy me if I'm like, Oh yeah, who is this? And it wasn't there. I'd be like, who is this? And I was like, you had everybody else in here. It's like 10 pages long for fuck's sake. I will say, so it's interesting. I am currently reading the witness for the dead, which is a novella set in the same universe following the witness for the dead character. I thought it was a novel. I mean, I knew about that, but I mean, it's like 230 pages. So technically it's a novel, but it's a very, it's a short novel. It's a short novel. Yeah. But yeah, it's interesting because I think maybe she learned from that because she still has the same formal names, but more of the characters get shortened versions of it, which is kind of what I was talking about. So it makes it easier, a little easier to keep track of who's who. I'm even though I didn't love this, I am more interested in that one because that one sounds like it will have a plot. And I am excited for the plot. Okay. You know what, Liana? That's why I gave it four instead of five because I did like Maya and the characters and all that. But also it has no plot. This thing's happened. It has a plot. There's no, there's not a lot of a plot here. Things are happening, but like what is the goal here? It's more. Yeah. It feels more just sort of like it's a month in the life of like the princess diary is like becoming. Yeah. It's like, it's, it's events unfolding. I feel like more than like a propulsive plot. Yeah. But I liked the things that were unfolding. So that was okay with me. Yeah. I mean, I did too. And I felt like it was more about like a character study of Maya having to find his way in this situation he never thought he would be in, which I found interesting. So like that didn't bother me at all. So like as a character driven reader though, like I would still argue that even a character driven story has a internal plot. Then it has like something that the character is like trying to figure out about themselves or trying to find in themselves or trying to, to come to some realization or change something. Something happens. I think it does. Not really much. It was just like, it turns out, Oh, being good is a good thing to be a leader. No, no. That is not what I got at all. That's what I got out of it. Okay. Okay. So that note. I just want to put this here about Maya. We've seen so many characters who have gone through similar like trauma as a child in other fantasy novels. For example, not the same trauma, but trauma nonetheless. And we see so many of these characters grow up to be like, I am all powerful and I will destroy my enemies. And then Maya kind of went the complete opposite direction. We just like, no, I got treated shitty. And it was stuck. So I don't want to treat anyone else shitty. So it's kind of nice to not throw up to be a monster. Okay. Yeah. He was kind of like, he felt a little, I liked him. So I was okay with this, but like if I were going to give it a critique, I would say like, he felt a little too naive or, I don't know. I mean, like, I don't know that I, yeah, I was into it. So I went with it, but. I mean, I feel like he would have been though. He was kept alone in the country his whole life. Uncle or cousin. What's his face? That's an asshole. Like I just feel like he would have picked up something from that. I don't know. I guess I couldn't help like comparing him to Fitz and Fitz is so much more interesting to read about. And Fitz has so much more than actual character arc that I was just totally different character though. Like that's such a, I don't know. I wouldn't, I guess I just wouldn't have made the comparison. I really, well, I really liked it. I liked Maya a lot. And I, to me, like I feel like this was a lot of him, like coming to believe in himself as being capable because he had been told his whole life, like you are less than because you're, which I also have a critique of like some of what I think she was trying to do with the book and how she did it. But like, I think a lot of it is about like, okay, you've been told you're less than because you're half goblin because you're bi-racial because like you don't fit and you're not like good enough or smart enough or whatever. And like his arc is finding his own inner strength and like finding his own way to rule and figuring out how to like be himself, be true to himself and also take on this mantle of power. That's what I thought the character journey was as well. I feel like I said that though. That was his character journey. Like, like he's a nice person who discovers by the end that being nice is a good thing in a leader. And you should be yourself. Well, I think the difference is you're saying that in a way to imply that that's not really a journey. And I think what we're saying is, yeah. It is a journey. But to me, it's like the journey that I expect from like the Disney Channel where like the moral of this story boils down to something that basic. We're like, believe in yourself and don't let bullies get you down. And like that's the whole thing. And I'm like, I want something more from a, from a book that sells itself as like complex political machinations and layers of different things going on. And you have to navigate that and find your place in it and find your identity. Like I just expected more layers than just like being good is good. And don't let the racists get you down. Yeah. Like he didn't have a secondary goal. You know what I mean? Like, yes, he's kind of like searching for what, who killed his parents so they don't kill him. But like he doesn't have a secondary goal, like of something he's trying to accomplish. Like maybe the bridge, but like it's so little of the story that I don't think it counts as that. Yeah. The bridge was, Well that too, that kept being thought would be the plot and then they would either just go away or be resolved. And I was like, oh, the murder mystery of like, you know, who actually did this assassinating? And like, yes, that is resolved, but not in like an interesting mystery plot kind of way. Someone else goes off and kind of solves it and then comes back. We just like have an explosion. Yeah. Okay. And like the bridge thing too, I expected that to like turn into some kind of more complicated equation. And it didn't. And it didn't. It just was like, hey, there's this bridge we want to build and no one's into it. Yeah. So like we were hoping, yeah, there wasn't like a secondary conflict for Maya to overcome. I mean, yeah, people are trying to kill him. That's a big deal. But like, I didn't, he didn't have a secondary goal like, oh, this is something I want to accomplish by being a good person. Yeah. Yeah. I guess that's true. I think the dark painted ruse, there are tons of characters that try to tell to Maya who he should be, but he decides who he is on his own. I think that is the intended journey. Now, whether or not that was successful or not, you know, fair enough, but for me that worked of like in a world where there's a lot of voices saying this is how you should be that he finds a way to have an agency and not become, you know, a puppet. Like that to me is his journey is like, he doesn't want to be a puppet. I think what you're referring to this when we announced or like when you're talking about this is our next book and I forgot about it until I just glanced at the book and I started laughing about the tagline of even on the throne, you're only as good as your wits or your heart. You're like, I'm like, it's such a terrible tagline. It's not wrong. That is what it's about. And that's why I don't like it. I guess that's the thing is it's just like whether you like it or not because like I enjoyed it. It worked for me. I guess if this book was a middle grade book, I'd have been like, oh, that's good. That's sweet. I like this message, but it's an adult book filled with political machinations supposedly that I was just like, okay. Yeah. I mean, I guess I didn't go in with as many expectations of what it was going to be honestly because I hadn't heard anything about it until you mentioned it. So I just kind of went in blind and was like, okay, we'll see what this is. And I enjoyed what it was. So I don't know. Yeah. I forget. Although, okay. I just want to talk about a moment because there was one moment that like hit me at all of my feels. And it's that moment. It's like Dar, not Darra, Darra, but his name is Maya. Maya is in bed trying to go to sleep, but he had a, you know, really something traumatic happening. He's kind of crying and he's trying not to be crying in front of the lady guard. And then she started singing him a song and he falls asleep. And I was on audio book and I was driving to work just sobbing in my car. Yeah. So I had to like get to work. I like parked a block away and got my shit together before I got to work. Yeah. I just like felt for him so much like being in that situation and having to like figure out how to navigate things. Yeah. I just, I loved it. He was so sweet. I was just like, I love him too. Yeah. I do. I do love Maya as a character. I, like I said, he came out of a traumatic youth and childhood, not a monster. And I feel like a lot of people are also like that. And we only ever see the opposite in a lot of fantasy. So I like Maya. I think he's a great character. I guess if Maya, I mean Maya can be a sweet little cinnamon roll and that can do his whole deal. But then I need something else also going on or some other character to be like equally fleshed out and to be an equal and opposing force that is like a contrast to that, a juxtaposition. Like something. But it's just like sweet cinnamon roll being all sweet. And that's the thing. Yeah. The first assassination plot with the stepmom, I don't know, like, you know, one of the former wives of his dad and the head of his council when they got together and they're like, let's kill Maya. And it was just, like I knew they're both dicks, but there wasn't enough time for them being dicks to Maya on page that I was just like, wait a minute, like this just kind of came out of nowhere. So I was like, uh-oh. Okay. Wasn't okay. Honestly, the, the concept of a witness for the dead was by far the most interesting thing to me in this entire book, which is why like the next book being about that, I'm like, well, that was like about the only thing that I was actually genuinely interested in in goblin and purse. Like I would try to look, you want to read that. I'm a little wary, like having seen how this goes. Like maybe that one I'm applauding there, and I was like excited to see how that works. And like what a, it kind of, it kind of reminded me of pushing daisies. I don't know if you've watched that show, but where you kind of like wake up the dead person and it's 60 seconds, ask them how they died and then go solve their murder. But like that's a, that's a cool bit of world building. That's a cool bit of magic and the whole, and not just the fact that you could wait, like get somebody who's dead to kind of tell you, but the, the institution of a witness for the dead and like just how that, I was like, can we like, I want more of that instead of just like, may I be in all? Yeah. You would probably like this better because I am reading it and it's interesting because it's more like actually solving murder mysteries. It's kind of like, it's more than one case. Like he's working on a couple of different things at once, but there's a primary one, but it's more of like him having been sent to this little city to get the witness for the dead and stuff after getting cast out for being gay and whatever. Him getting cases where he's trying to solve, like this woman's death because she was murdered and finding out who she is and trying to figure out who killed her and why, and then having like little side mysteries you solving too. Yeah. So that sounds interesting. Like you, you sold me on that, but I do think I wonder, I was wondering like why, because I don't disagree with a lot of what you're saying, Liana, like, I think that that's the reason why for me, this is like three and a half, four. I liked the vibes and it was refreshing to me. So I just went like, for me, that's a four. But I was wondering why this got awards because I do think it has problems. And I almost wonder if like the fact that it is pretty just like, good guys can be good, but it doesn't feel like that in a kind of retro way. If that was just sort of a nice breath of fresh air for fantasy readers where there is a lot of grimdark and a lot of like morally gray characters and all of that, like this might just be, you know, almost like a palette cleanser of like, Maya is, there is no moral gray for Maya. Like he's just like a sweetie and he starts as a sweetie and he's keeps his sweetiness. So I'm just wondering if maybe like that is part of what appealed to people about this? I, that's what appeals to me. I like that he's a little cinnamon roll that I will murder. I mean, this is what's important for the audience to know that I DNF'd House in the Cerulean Sea. So like, I am not the person for this. Yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, that's fair. I, so I kind of wonder actually because one of, like the main thing that I kind of critiqued when I initially reviewed this is that I think this book is trying to say something about racism. And I don't like, I don't necessarily love the way that it went about doing that, to be honest. But which like, you know, I can talk about, but I do kind of wonder for when it was being published, if that might have been part of the, like what people liked about it that it was trying to, like I just wonder if like the topicality could have been a piece of it. I don't know, but I enjoyed it. I don't really understand it being an award winner either, but I did have a good time with it. And the main thing with that was I was like, okay, so we have these like pale, beautiful elves and these dark, ugly goblins and this like biracial emperor. And I was like, and like part of his thing is having to like get over, you know, like everybody saying goblins are ugly and dark and stuff. And I was like, oh, that's like, I see what you're trying to do here. But like they also made a point to say like Maya was lucky because his features looked more elven than goblin at certain points. The only thing goblin seems to be maybe his ears are bigger and he's like got darker skin. Yeah. So I'm like, yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I just, I just didn't think it was trying to make a point on racism. I'm just like, this is just how this world works. You know. I definitely think it was trying to do that. That was what I got from it was that it was trying to like. Well, besides, you know, the basics of like this is bad. But yeah, I didn't think. An allegory isn't even an allegory. Well, that's my problem with it is I just felt like it was two on the nose. Like I think it. I think there are ways to make that more interesting that were not pursued. It was a bad year. I don't know. Yeah. And I do think, wasn't there sort of like a. Like the way that what's his face witness for the dead dude is gay. And then Maya's sort of like response to it as a little. Yeah. I felt like it was like the author. I didn't. I felt like the author was trying to make that his perspective. Like I didn't feel like that was like. The author's perspective, but it did. It was like, oh, okay. Well, Maya threw up. It's also kind of. I think she was trying to put it as. He's never been exposed to any of these things. And he could have gone one of two directions. He could have been like, you know, that's gross. Get away from me. Or it could be like, oh. Okay. I don't get it. But like. I'm still friends with you. Like I think that would be like an appropriate reaction for him. Where he's just kind of like, oh. I don't think he's going to be real woke right away. I just think like in a book where like Maya's entire character is just being the goodest, good, like, and just an entire marshmallow. Then to like suddenly choose this as the moment for him to be kind of a little more realistic and to maybe like have some like things that he's narrow minded about. It's already unbelievable that he's like Mr. Goodie two shoes considering how he's been abused and how everyone's addicted to him. So he's like super kind and snow white about everything. Like some people can be. I was going to say, I do know people who've had like pretty shitty upbringings. And I'm very nice to it is being like almost like pathologically nice. And maybe that's part of what I'm bringing to the text is that that doesn't feel as unrealistic to me because I think some people's response to trauma basically is like, everything's going to be okay guys. Well, I just feel like that's what you see on the outside, but I would expect their internal journey to be more complicated to where like your internal like reflection. I mean, maybe I think a lot of times that's a coping mechanism and that's just how you through the world. Like people like that too. Yeah. It's like unprocessed trauma. So it's like you don't really even. Yeah. No, that to me did not feel unrealistic. But, you know, you're round to my very. I guess I feel like the thing is though, you know, with it trying to deal with the race piece of it part of that might be part of why he is such a perfect cinnamon roll is this idea of like, look, goblins can be good people too. Like, you know, I don't like that. I know. Yeah. And I like that. So that's the problem is to me it read a little bit like that of like, okay, if you're trying to mirror like, like tokenism. Yeah. Like, yeah. Fantasy tokenism. Kinda. Yeah. Like, it's like, it's about as old and tired as like a girl can be a monarch too. And you're like, yeah. Or like a girl can fight too. Yeah. The big reveal is that the person underneath the armor is a girl. Yeah. Well, you gave us three stars instead of two or one. So like, did you have things you did like about it? I mean, I just, I mean, I felt like the writing was fine. Like the pros was fine. Like there were things about the world where they were cool. I just was like with this wet nowhere. Like I just finished it. I was like, what was the point of any of that? So I just like, I, it wasn't anything that I was like, it was egregiously bad. I was just like going through it being like, okay, well, I guess we'll see where this is going at some point. It went nowhere. Okay. Well, it just went. It just went. It just went. It just went. By the way, would you have a love and shallow time? Oh, no, I have a pompomous. Oh, wait, I thought you were like, do we match? There you go. There you go. I went on to live in Pella last night and they immediately put it in their next grocery delivery. Oh, they're so good. They're too, they're too tasty. Like they have too much flavor for a look. For me. Tastes like. I was like talking about how. Look, right. Like basically something out of like Willy Wonka or Harry Potter where you're like, gee, Mr. Wonka, this water, it tastes like. It tastes like a cake. Well, like I got a, um, black razz, like razz, R-A-Z-Z Berry the other day, which was, I didn't realize was also the same like lemon cello, cello line where it's like very intensely flavored. Well, it was a good flavor. It's just not what I want from La Croix. Like, I just want to be like a sous-saint of flavor. I like the flavor. The Pellegrino blood orange and raspberry. Because in my opinion, it tastes like rainbow sherbet, which I missed a great deal. Um, so. Big fan. Nice. I'm sorry. I have derailed this conversation. I'm sorry. No, it's okay. I tried it about La Croix, then I am about to go off with it. I woke up for this part. I think that's the thing. Like I have critiques of how she did what she was trying to do, but like I had a great time reading it. So like, I think that's part of why I gave it. Like I just enjoyed myself so much when I was reading it. Yeah. You know, like, I just enjoyed the vibes. It was so cozy and just sort of like, Oh, okay. And so I just sort of went with it. Yes. I think he's a little cinnamon roll of a character, which is fine. I like him. And I, and I like him. I'm like, he should rule. He's a good guy. You know, and that's the problem. We rule because like ruling isn't just being good. Like you also have to have like good strategy. You have to be able to like deal with competing interests and be able to please everybody and you have to make the hard calls that aren't necessarily good for anyone because like it's someone's going to lose. So like, it's just, you did with the bridge. Well, not even a bridge. The people with the, the goats who kept eating each other's lawns and he's just like, listen, you, you go shit together. Yeah. He's got it. A bridge and you guys make out a schedule for who gets to eat, who's lawn, when, and you guys charge tolls. And he just like laid it out. And he's just like, he had a moment of thinking like, wow, I'm not going to make anyone happy. So I just have to make everyone unhappy. So he had a thought of that, but it was so like low stakes. I mean, he was goat is eating what grass, you know, it was a middle grade book. All of that would be fine for me. I'd be like, this is a good children's version of like political decisions where you have to make the tough call, but this is an adult book. And I was just like, okay. But I mean, there's like such a range of adult books. Like not everything has to be, like not everything has to be high, super high stakes all the time. Like I like high stakes books, but I also like books that aren't like it's a nice change of phase, honestly, for me at least. I mean, like I wouldn't couch it in terms of stakes just in terms of like a level of complexity that like, it's never going to be like that. It's like borderline, like a biblical parable really. And I solved it this way. Done. You clearly did not grow up reading parables all the time. I'll just touch on that right now. No. No. I just had a trauma flashback. Sorry. I'm sorry. More like an ace up table. Is that better? Okay. Maybe that. Yeah. Yeah. I just felt like that's just not what this book's project was. No, it wasn't. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I like to give four stars unironically. Like I liked it. Yeah. But like, I didn't have to four of it. Yeah. Yeah. I liked it. I gave it, I moved up to four because I felt like I've not read an adult book quite like this before in fantasy. So for me, I was like, okay, those points for something a little different. Yeah. A lot of it just blows out to like, it gets really mad about something. And it's like, yeah, I'm like, yeah, I just didn't bother me. That doesn't mean it's bad. It just means you don't like it. And that's, that's fine. Like, I only experienced that recently when there was a book, and it was something so little, but like I just couldn't stop dwelling on it to the point where I had to stop reading the book. So like, I get the emotion. Yeah. Like it just, it doesn't happen. I mean, God, I never got three stars because I didn't, I'm not angry about it. I don't hate it. I was just like, that was just like so entirely pointless. Yeah. Now I will tell you, I think if this had been a longer book, I would have been less into it. I think that it was bordering too long for me. Yeah. It was bordering, but it did for me move along quick enough that I didn't feel like it was just dragging because I was enjoying the vibe. I think if it had been longer, I would have gotten impatient. Same. Yeah. Sorry if you could hear that. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, you know what? That's a good contrast to the unbroken from last month. Like for me, that one was too long and so I got impatient with it of like, I probably could have, the things that I didn't like as much about it, I probably would have been more okay with had it been a, you know, like a hundred pages shorter. And in this case, I had, I actually probably had similar feelings of like, I can list and say like, these are the things I don't think work about this, but this one, I just went with it more for whatever reason. Like I can't quantify why this one just like worked for me better. We all did. We all had high hopes. Yeah. I didn't hate it. No, you didn't. No. No. I'm going to count it as a win. Okay. Yeah. I just, I'm, I keep staring at this and I'm trying to think of an example. Like I don't believe that I would always hate a book that is like, you know, character driven and doesn't necessarily, I'm trying to think of an example that I'm like, did it better and this is why it worked for me, but I can't. So maybe I just don't ever like that. But that's not fantasy. Yeah. Evelyn Hugo, I guess, Evelyn Hugo had a point, but a lot of things, but with Bethany, a lot of things just kind of happened. She doesn't really have a driving goal. What's the point though? Like is there a point? Well, okay. If not a point, there is like a structured kind of like building up and then a payoff of like a revelation at the end where you're like, and I found this new information out that recontextualize everything else that came before it. So you have this moment of like, Oh wow. Okay. And then we just stopped the story. See, nothing was recontextual. Oh well, I guess there was like that one thing, but I guess that like to me that wasn't, I don't know. That, that wasn't what made the book for me though. And then I mean, I just, any, I guess it's a gimmick. I guess it's cheating. But I mean, if a book is structured in terms of somebody telling their own life story, then like you're, you go into it being like this person is telling their life story. So like your life just goes like this. And so then if it was like frame, and then oftentimes when it's someone telling their life story, then built into it are the reflections that person has on this time in their life. And they'll be like, at that time, boy, I was so naive when I thought that, but you know, here's what I did. And so then there's more layers to it just because that person is now are like in their telling, reflecting on their life. I had the same, but like opposite member when we read a name of the wind. And I had the same complaint like, yeah, this is really good, but like nothing happened. Like it was just him telling a story and it didn't go anywhere. Like what was his goal? And I was like, oh, this is the opposite. Like I've been in this hot seat before. The name of the wind. I'm sorry everybody. I mean, yeah, I mean, name of the wind, like it. I don't know. I don't think that's true about name of the wind. Like I think like the point is again, like you're, like you see him grow as a character and change through the course of the life story he's telling. It's just like the little pieces that are structuring him telling it. That's different, but yeah. Well, it's also the fact that the king killer chronicle is intended to be the story of how this person became a legend in their own lifetime and then fell into purity by their It's like a bigger finding out. Yeah. What makes them a legend in the first place? And then why, why have they disappeared? So like something is going, I mean, it's a three book series that's incomplete. So this is like day one of like, this is now we know why he's at least got a reputation for being a legend. We've got that part down. Book two, we did some what he did actually accomplish some of the things that he's known for. We kind of saw that what actually happened with that and by book three, whenever that happens, we're going to find out why he did something so bad that he disappeared. I mean, if day three ever comes. Yeah. Although I think my, I had a prediction for it and my whole thing was like at book three, you're going to realize he was never the king killer. This is the story about how he becomes the king killer and it was told as a prologue. And then the book hasn't even started yet where he's a king killer. I was like, tell me I'm wrong. That's probably how it's going to be. This is all a three book prologue. Yeah. I mean, it is a prologue, but that's not why. I mean, Patrick Roth, this is on record as saying like, he said it's a three book prologue, but not to that specifically. Yeah. The fact that he is a king killer, but the fact that like, we already get glimpses in name of the wind of like, what is currently going on in the world that like, which is not what the story is about, but you get glimpses of what they're dealing with right now post whatever clothes supposedly did. And the world is not good. Like there are bad things happening in the world. And so like the, this is a big prologue basically to find out what apocalyptic thing both did to put the world in the state that it's in now. And so then then the real story is what the world is in now. Yeah. I'm just saying, I don't think he's killed the king yet. I think he has to do that later. It's the king killer chronicle and he hasn't killed the king yet. I don't know. I don't know. I've only read book one, and I'm like, I'm thinking that's, that's, that's the case. So goblin emperor. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I haven't read Evelyn Hugo. I haven't read the name of the wind. So I'm just chilling. Yeah. All right. You need to come prepared by having read all the things we've done. Come on. I'm sorry. I think you would like Evelyn Hugo. I do too. I'm good. I'm good. If it's one of those books that's so hyped up that at this point I'm like, I just don't think I would enjoy it because I think that. See, that's the thing though. If you go in now with the reverse where you're like, it's so hyped. This is going to be the worst. And you go in with like bottom of the barrel. But why would I spend my time reading something I don't want to read? Like it doesn't appeal to the only reason I'd be reading that is because everybody else read it. And I, why would I spend my time reading something that I'm not intrinsically interested in? I guess you know what? It's probably because I also wasn't really interested in it, but so many people kept telling me to read it. I finally was like, okay, fine. I'll read it. Yeah. I'm not going to read it. Yes. Evelyn Hugo is the one with all of the husbands. Yeah. Seven to be exact. Seven. Yes. Yes. Seven. And then one wife. Sorry. Boiler. I also have a very, like I have a stubborn streak within me of like if people try to make me do something I don't want to do, then it just makes me like more resistant to it. This is not true at your case, Mark, because you do read omnivorously. But for me, it takes a book to be that hyped for people who read omnivorous genres are like, oh, but this one though, because I would never pick up like a non-fick or I mean, it is fiction, but like let's say about Hollywood Starlet. Just like, I'm like never, but like because I wouldn't pick up most litfig. That's why I don't pick it up. So I take something, winning awards in every single person, like a sci-fi reader, a romance reader, a litfig reader, like all of them being like this book though, that I'm like, well, maybe great. Yeah. So I'll pick that up. But that's, I don't go out of fantasy very often. So it takes that for me to pick it up. Yeah. So this goblin emperor in his bodyguards. He's got a second. I know there's, there's like, I called him like dude bro and wizard guy. Because one of them is very like, he probably goes to gym eight times a day. Like he's, I just feel like he's very muscly. And then you have like sock wizard. And then you have the other muscle guy. And then you have lady wizard. And then the betrayal and he's sad. And like, I do like that he was trying to work through his complex emotions about being betrayed by someone he cared about. And he's just like, you know, I'm really trying not to be angry and hateful, but I can't yet. And he's talking about it in a really real way. So some moments were like hard hitting emotionally. Yeah. I think. But I also liked his guards and everything. And at the end of the book, he's like, you know what? Fuck you. Fuck you. We're friends. Yeah. I love that. I love that. He drops the, the we, the royal we and says I, and I'm like, you go. Yeah. Like this. These are your friends. Forget it. These are your buddies. You're going to make this work. Yeah. I did. I did like that use of in terms of like an element of world building or like culture building. I did like that element of the. Ruler using we instead of I enjoy the fact that the end thou and you and yours was like used correctly, which is just a point of extreme irritation and pedantry with me. So like, it was just, I, every time it was used correctly. I was just like, yes. That's what you were at a two and a half, but just that you were like, okay, I got to give this a three just for the being though. Oh my God. If they had you, if it had been the end thou use incorrectly, I would have burned it already went nowhere. Then you just like kept beating me over that with doing this wrong. Then you had the audacity. Yeah. Oh, well, I mean, I think, you know, this is one of the few ones where none of us had a strong negative rate, like a passionate negative reaction. So in that sense, I win. I can't. Blur for the cover. Luna didn't hate it. Yeah. Well, the other reality though, right, is like to make a discussion. Interesting the person with the strongest positive and negative feelings kind of has to like lean into that a little bit. Otherwise, like, otherwise what are we talking about? Like, I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. What we're talking about is you guys just be like, What are feelings? I don't know. I can say there are some like emotional moments in the book that like work and like get you in the feels and I enjoyed getting in my feels about it. So yeah, there you go. I guess. Car. Yeah. If anything that makes you cry in your car before you go into work, I feel like that's the most incredible reading experience. I think I read this after Wisdom of Crowds. Is that true? That's not a good idea. Like you reach your most anticipated book of the year that you know you're going to think is you're going to read this after it. Like, oh, yeah. That's not fair. I mean, you probably you believe. Yeah. You know, I would also without spoilers like to say that like where I was just reading this like blurb and I was thinking to myself that actually fits Wisdom of Crowds better. A remarkably hopeful story. Well, not hopeful. Remarkably hopeful story about a single decent person doing his best in a difficult situation. Remarkably compelling and fascinating. I mean, they're one of the most unique things unique for Abercrombie in the in the age of banished trilogy is that there is a character that like arguably at least compared to other Abercrombie characters is a net good person and trying to do net good and like. Yeah. We almost made it 45 minutes without mentioning Abercrombie. Yeah. I gave you an opening earlier when I said like, oh, there's so many characters who go through trauma and come out months. Yeah. Exactly. Well, that's part of what I was thinking to you. I was like, because I know you love that. Well, I like Remark too. But I guess I just, I like, I don't know. I was actually going to bring up Abercrombie about the racism and the homophobia because like Abercrombie is constantly the example I use as an author that can show you characters thinking these things and make it very clear that the author, how the author feels about this and how you're meant to feel about this. Without ever making the character be like, am I being racist? Like having a moment of like, they never have a moment of truth, but it's very clear in the text that like without taking away any of their isms, we agree. We, the author and the reader are like, yeah, but that's bad. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which is important to do is like, yeah, I've read things where they didn't do well and it might have been better with dragons. I mean, probably many things are better with dragons. I mean, like, do you have anything to talk about about the first law? Homophobia is typically like a thing that comes up in the new trilogy. Homophobia is something that like, he didn't really deal with very much at all that I can recall. But it's like a big part of the new trilogy and which was like a direct example for me to be like, we were like, he was a little weird that he was kind of homophobic, but then it's very believable that he would be blah, blah, blah. And I'm just sitting there going like, well, in the age of madness trilogy, there's a character that's extremely homophobic and it's very believable that he would be and it's very clear how the author feels about this. And like, yeah. Yeah. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. Lovingly. really expect that so like any element of like who done itness was just like oh yay like a little sous-saint of you know Urquil Poirot coming in here. So yeah that it didn't I don't think it really is a mystery but it has some flavor of that. Yeah. A dash. A dash. A sprinkling of. There's definitely more in Witness for the Dead like that one is much more like yeah that's why you're kind of selling me on it because I'm like that that seems like fun. I felt like in Goblin Emperor the inclusion of that element was almost worse because it was like teasing me with something that I'm like yeah that but we're not doing that okay like show me a better book and then be like well yeah I always say that my ideal book is like a fantastical setting world of some kind with a mystery plot and a romantic element so like if that was what we had that I mean I would just love that but that's not really what it was. Well with a mystery too good or bad you have the built-in kind of like plot structure that keeps somebody interested in feeling like there was a point because then like the point is what is the answer to this mystery and if you make that the focal point even if the answer ends up being bad you kept somebody reading because they were like but I want to know the answer to the mystery. Yeah. Yeah. Compliance with perfectly green moustaches yes. And Belgian accents. Yes. Oh my god can you imagine all of the like interesting. The style of the prose that we had but with a with a thick, thick French or Belgian accent. Serenity over and over. Yeah. So like let's talk about world building for a second because we haven't really got into that a lot. I think we all mentioned that none of us know any of the names because they're all just like the same sounding and there's too many of them. However she did build a whole world with its own like language structure and like how they differentiate male and female. Yeah. I liked that. And all the names and how they work. So world building wise I'm like yeah you did a lot of work. It's just that perhaps too much for the average reader because none of us remember any of the names. Well like there were moments of it. Yeah. I felt like there were moments where I was like oh like you actually did something with us like when he's picking what his I don't remember what his ruling name is but that he like there's this moment of yeah oh is that actually what it is. Yeah. Like he's picking that name because of it's almost like the pope kind of situation like there's yeah in popes and like they'll pick their pope name based on what kind of value they have an alignment with older popes. So I liked that as like that felt like an actual character moment for him or like it's using the world building to tell you something as opposed to just like look at all the world building I did. So I thought like there were moments where I felt like it you know was useful to the story and not just there. You just like well I'll take all the help I can get like let's even pick this day. Yeah. At least he had a good rule. All right. I like I like some linguistic stuff and like I don't mind complicated naming conventions. It's just it's it's useful if they have shorter nicknames. So like the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown is a great example. Everybody has like three names and the naming conventions are complicated but people also have like shorter nicknames or more memorable names that you can like grab on to. So I wish there was a little more of that. Well I just for the most part sometimes depending I might make excuses for something like that but the most part I won't give something a pass and say like well it's just very complicated real building and you just have to like there's so much information and like the average reader like can't whatever. I'm like no it was badly written if you couldn't pick this up and follow it because the author's job is to write this in a way where you can follow what's going on. You can the names mean something to you. They stand out to you. You connect to them with people and so like there are so many other books that have like a bazillion names have bizarre world building and I can follow what's going on. I can remember who is who because the author's done a good enough job of like giving me a distinct impression of who this is. So I connect their name with that person and giving me a sense of how this all works. So it's not like remembering an encyclopedic list because like you're building this world in your head and that's what that's called that's what this is called and I know where we are and I know what's going on because you wrote it well instead of being like well I did all this building here's the glossary and you won't remember any of it unless you study like no that's not good writing. Yeah I mean I can differentiate the characters like who they are but like remembering their names it's just it's out the window but like I know like he's like you know his half sister was a character his like girlfriend well fiancé arranged marriage like I just I know all of them by who they are in the story but like their names are just like I have invented new names for them. Well like and I guess to my my touch points take a shot because we're going to talk outside changeling. One thing that has been interesting with doing a podcast on that series is that some people who they just have been picking up random ones so like I always tell people like go back to the beginning and read it forward because like it just builds on itself and the machinations are so good and it like really has a lot of payoffs I'm about to reread Heart of Obsidian today I'm so excited but it's been interesting hearing people say like oh you know I wanted to do that but like I don't have time so I'm just gonna pick this book sounds good to me I'm gonna pick it up and something they've been consistently saying to me is oh well like I got I got all that like I was clear to me like where we were in the story and like I didn't feel lost in the world building and to me like that is the sign of somebody who's done a good job of if you go back like in a series at least if you go back you get more but somebody could just drop in because like they're doing a good enough job in the book itself of communicating like okay you don't know what the omega protocol is but you can tell from context clues like kind of what why people might care about it like that's that's excellent moral building which I know you know not all authors can get to but that is definitely a bonus if they can definitely yeah it this is more of a vibe book it's like yeah vibes well that's what I'm like it's it's that's why I always praise Grace Draven because Grace Draven doesn't build a complicated world she builds enough of a world that feels real it feels like these like these characters are really like in this world that like isn't just a cardboard cutout but she's kept it simple because this is not what we're here to do we're not here to learn about like the whole political structure of this whole world so like if you're gonna do something that complicated like then you also have to tell it in a way where people get it because if you're not if you're gonna if you're not gonna convey it to people in a way where they can really keep track of it it's just gonna be distracting and confusing and help nobody so like part of writing something so complicated is now committing to being an author that can you know explain this in a way it's like a teacher in a class like as opposed to make this material approachable to you the student otherwise what's the point of the teacher like the just here's the book here's the list of things to memorize the teacher is supposed to like guide you through this and make you like tackle this material and come to understand it and that's the author's job and if the author isn't gonna do that they're just gonna build this thing over here that only they understand like then you're you're good at world building i guess but you're not a good author i just thought i was too dumb i mean i guess i thought it was my fault i didn't know but you make a good point lianna i agree with you yeah i guess i feel like for me it depends on the book because like i think that yes that is good but i also know that there are books that i've loved that people's critique of it has been that it's too complicated and not accessible enough and i'm okay with that if i like the project of what the author is doing and i'm enjoying the way they do it or like enjoying the characters so i like i'm okay with and well and i mean if you're gonna talk about teaching for instance right like you you know like what you consider accessible for a high schooler is different than like a phd student you know what i mean like like what you come in with might be different and like what you're thinking about might be different and so like i'm okay with there being some fantasy worlds or whatever as long as like you know where it you know it doesn't have to be accessible to the average reader to be enjoyable necessarily to me or to like for me to think that it's done well you know i guess i mean i tend to think of it as like it's again like with teaching where like you have to meet you they the student has to meet you halfway but the teacher has to meet the student halfway and so like a book that requires you to pay attention a book that requires you to like you know not just like be distractedly like whizzing through it i mean sure like if it's it's gotten a little more meat to it then it demands of you that you pay attention but i also demand of the author that they are going to do their best also to make this a smooth ride for me and that i have to pay attention i do have to like pay you know i can't just ignore stuff i can't just like zone out i have to pay attention but you also have to explain this to me in a way that i retain it and like if you're not going to do that for me i don't feel like it's my job to understand this world for you that you were supposed to explain to me there end of the lesson so i think this was a good pick because i think i feel like there were interesting this was like not just a typical basic bitch fantasy even if you didn't like it this wasn't just like something you see a lot of so i feel like it was worthwhile even just like have something a little bit different yeah so yeah no one's a chosen one in this book it's just like who steps up to the plate which is kind of nice you're right he's a stumble into it one yeah he's like oh shit it's me i will say that like i mean it's it's not fair to judge a book by its cover but the original cover the one that i think is in the thumbnail for this live um with like the like half of his head peeking up with the little like goblin ears and whatever i just like i got such a vibe from that cover that this book would have so much more whimsy and like tricksy things and like i just got like i was picturing like i don't know i just haven't seen it since i was little but i loved the movie the princess and the goblins um and like i love the black cauldron which has a lot of like little creatures in it and like i love the i mean like the books as well by the way to alexander and the cover it just looks like it's going to be this like magical world with twisty little goblin tricksy things yeah and it's not that at all not bad at all well in this cover design i was noticing that it's just shutter stock picture yeah it's kind of i mean it's not very interesting as a cover honestly i do like the cover for witness for that is cool and i think i have no i mean now i'm less keen but i was honestly it's been on my wish list for a while the other book that she wrote that it's not to do with this the angel it's something of the title has angel in it you know what i'm talking about yeah yeah it's and it's like set in london and it's i think kind of a dark story the angel with the crows yeah that um which i mean yeah i don't maybe that's totally different and it'll be my jam again like i'm less keen you're saying that the british cover is their favorite now i want to see what it looks like now i'm putting witness for the dead on my library oh my god can you imagine if maya had like been in the spandex and the aggressively confident goblin king that is okay i also actually really like the uk cover i think i've seen the uk cover but no i'm not sure i just looked it up because uh we're all pause while we google yeah pause for good reads i i'm not even good going i'm just sitting here watching you guys google i like it i think it's pretty i i have seen that and i do and i actually also feel like that's maybe the most effective in terms of what the book is about like that gives me the most vibes of what this book is this looks like so much fun like he's gonna be tricky and he's yeah yeah it's not gonna have humor so it'll be funny i'm not even necessarily looking for funny just the fact that like it looks like he's like you know up to something but he's definitely not up to anything no he's just trying to figure out how to carry the burden of the crown you know that's what i thought i thought it was like a mystery but then i was like maybe i'm confusing it with when it's for the dead but i was pretty sure angel i would try yeah i would try more i guess it i mean like it's not i'm saying it's not her fault but uh getting so many awards like that but the cover design getting award you aren't like when you come into a book and your expectations are based on the cover design and the fact of it getting awards these are things that the author didn't like set up as your expectation you know what i mean so like that i mean is it's a reality of how you are approaching this book and how you experience it but it's also slightly unfair because like the author never said this book is like gonna win all the awards you better be rating it because it's gonna like knock your socks off the author just like wrote this book and then like people designed that cover and gave it awards and like great but like yeah the marketing and hype did not set up the right expectations for you yeah yeah which i mean like the same story of for like anyone i've the the copy that i picked up said this which like luckily i did like the book anyway but like that i picked up name of the win and the cover said you know the next georgia r martin which like if you mean next in terms of just being like a well respected fantasy on there okay but that's literally the only comparison to be made between these two things yeah well it's like how everything's upset there's obsessed with marketing every y a fantasy is the next harry potter it's like yeah our hunger games and it's dystopian yeah exactly it's like it's meaningless at this point well next month we're on amanda's channel yeah my copy's arriving today yay and this one's short five like five hours actually you know what i i got a bunch of other books also about final girls this month so i'm going full slash your movie october yeah i actually riley sager has one is it sager or sager sager sager yeah riley sager has one i'm going to read that one like um seven graham jones actually wrote another one called my heart is a chaser my heart is i read that yeah yeah which i think you liked a lot better than i did bethany i only yeah i really liked it i like his writing a lot it really works for me but i get that it's like a very specific it's a very specific kind of horror so and this one is very like movie based well it has like screen directions on it yeah i'm gonna do like generic or specific final girls um yeah i think was the idea um yes i mean there's a lot of final girls i gotta figure out it's gonna be six o'clock though uh let's talk about time it's our halloween show to be on october 30th on my channel so it's going to be an evening show because why not have a halloween party and it's gonna be six o'clock pacific nine p.m eastern we're gonna be all bloody and and fighting for our lives and reading a book about that too yes final girl final girl is uh the last girl who lives in a slasher movie is usually one final didn't know either oh well there you go yeah yeah i it's a horror trope i mean i know now because you guys have explained it to me but like when we first were like we're gonna dress as final girls i was like what i know about it but i also haven't i don't know if i've ever really seen a slasher film so i'm feel like maybe i'll remedy that this october i might like do a prize because like last year i did a project where i watched like five spooky movies i'd never seen before and vlogged it and i'm like this year maybe i'll do that well the movie that i'm dressing as the final girl from i think you would actually like bethany it's a it's a comedy horror movie and it has a mystery so maybe ready or not it's a bit of a okay a mystery i don't know what i think final girl i think i think like texas chainsaw massacre but that's just like i'm like a bit much i think scream but i'm not sure yeah i'd try to dress like nev cambell i don't know yeah she's a good final girl she finds back i watched the screen filled you every after it has one does i know what you did last summer uh i never saw them i remember when they were coming out and i wasn't allowed to watch it's not just one part of like the final girl thing is that there's kind of just one who survives or uh yeah well sometimes it can be multiple ones but there's always like a one girl who like yeah like there's like i know what you did last summer like there's two of them who make it out and it's a guy and a girl yeah so i guess technically yeah but still a final girl like jeez full final girl but i think i'm just gonna make my generically speaking final girl we can all do something we'll figure out i'm gonna be fine yeah yeah it shall be fine but yeah i think this happened last year where i was a very specific vampire everyone knows but i'm gonna be very well i was a sparkly vampire nodding to like the twilight bridge i was i was trying to do like new orleans vampire but my outfit ended up being pornographic so i had to change it last minute some titties uh and then just fyi november is sort of summer by rick rariden and this is on my channel so these are the next period of summer we should have read in summer yeah well all right all right it's okay it's always a good time to read it for rick i mean we're we're always summer well and it it might be summer and like the southern hemisphere so yeah exactly it's the australian summer yeah there you go yeah it's summer somewhere wouldn't it be australian spring because autumn is like um autumn's almost over i think maybe i mean there's a month left probably in in autumn when we go to do the live show yeah cool well either way anyway it's fine it's fine but there's no rules here i just hadn't thought about it until like this memo you said i was like magnus chase yeah viking because that's cool for a darkness you're like sort of summer i mean yeah like martina says norse mythology always gives winter vibes to me there's i feel like it's kind of wintery vibes so yeah it's obviously i had winter but maybe the maybe it's about finding the sort of summer to cast away the winter you know i mean it taught me about the myth of the sort of summer which i was not aware of so i learned i learned a lot about norse mythology from uncle rick in that trilogy so you can always just read some game in why would i think this is the other part of the live show well we hit both of them you got bingo it's okay i like i almost always end up talking about nk jemisin so it's fine i love jemisin as an example of an author that builds complicated worlds but like you're not just like read the glossary like she is i never read the glossary and i was fine yeah she does not spoon feed anything to you well anyway so we got our next month and november announced officially and it's gonna be a halloween party so come join us you don't have to read the book if you just want to come for vibes as you can tell we talk about a lot of different topics so if you want to see how much fake blood we're gonna be wearing yeah i'm gonna try to do some i've never tried to do special effects makeup but i think i may try like try my hand at it yeah i mean i'm kind of anxious because i purchased white lace and fake blood and i'm like maybe i will never wear these clothes again because i was ready to go wrong okay thanks bye